Call comes as West Yorkshire Combined Authority makes no immediate decision to release funds to North Yorkshire Council for the works to proceed
The Get Away campaign group, which represents town centre businesses opposed to the Station Gateway development and backed by a majority of Harrogate traders, has called for a stringent scrutiny process around a move by North Yorkshire Council to start works on the scheme in the New Year despite an ongoing legal challenge against it, which the Court of Appeal has said has real prospects of success.
The call comes after the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) last week confirmed there will be no immediate decision to release around £11m of Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) money to North Yorkshire Council (NYC) for the project – which was expected in some circles.
Prior to the committee meeting, lawyers for the Get Away Group had written to WYCA warning the Combined Authority not to provide the allocated TCF funding to enable North Yorkshire Council to start works in the town centre whilst legal proceedings were active. The group also sent a similar correspondence to York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority not to contribute some £2m on the same grounds.
The letters to the Combined Authorities were followed up last week by a move towards a judicial review of the North Yorkshire Council’s decision to start works on the scheme next year.
In its correspondence to the two Combined Authorities, the campaign’s legal advisers had highlighted that the Court of Appeal had granted permission for a review of the four Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs 1-4) underpinning the revised Harrogate Station Gateway Scheme, explicitly stating that the grounds have “real prospects of success”. They also pointed out that:
- NYC’s own business case acknowledged an estimated 75% risk of a successful legal challenge
- YNYCA’s £2 million contribution is understood to be conditional on the Harrogate legal challenge being “satisfactorily concluded”, a test that is plainly not met while the Court of Appeal case and further claims are outstanding
- NYC’s own documents indicated that the revised Harrogate Station Gateway represents low value for money
- The business case put together on the scheme by North Yorkshire Council was deeply flawed
During last week’s WYCA Committee meeting, one councillor specifically questioned the risks posed by the legal challenge. In response, Nikki Deol, Assistant Director Legal, Governance & Compliance – Statutory Monitoring Officer with WYCA, confirmed that while WYCA is not the order-making authority and the risk lies with NYC, the funding element and discharge of conditions are matters that will be considered “very, very carefully” in due course.
Steven Baines, spokesperson for the Get Away campaign, said: “We welcome the fact that WYCA has not released the funds and has instead acknowledged the need for deeper consideration. This is a critical opportunity for authorities to properly consider the serious legal and financial risks surrounding this scheme.
“Given the Court of Appeal’s view that the challenge has real prospects of success, and the significant flaws in the business case, we are confident that a full and rigorous scrutiny process will make it clear that proceeding with the scheme at this stage cannot be justified.”
He added: “The decision to release funds will have real-world consequences for traders, livelihoods and the long-term vitality of Harrogate town centre. It is important that those involved in scrutinising how this development has played out consider all the legal and business case concerns that our lawyers have raised, and in doing so hold North Yorkshire Council to account.
“Those governing the region and Harrogate, in particular, need to recognise there could be significant political and economic ramifications if, after the scrutiny process, agreement to proceed is given.”
Baines also stressed that the aim of Get Away is not to delay for the sake of delay, but to ensure that decisions involving millions of pounds of public money and the livelihoods of many in the Harrogate business community – during a cost-of-living crisis – are made responsibly and with full awareness of the risks.
